SPEAK UP! World Choking Game Awareness Day

Mark this date down now! October 11, 2012! 

Go Here Now Facebook Event Page

Do it now! I mean it!

Save the ribbon above onto your computer or device now!

Alright, Thank you! now read this! Make sure to visit all the links and educate yourself!

10-11-12 the ages you should talk to kids because the average age of death is 13. It is estimated that 75% of kids know about the game but 40% of kids think it's harmless. It is not - just start asking 13 and 14 yr olds if they've heard of a game where kids pass out for fun because it has way too many names among kids to ask just about the choking game..

On 10/11/12, we request that you make the ribbon your profile pic or at least talk to some people about the game. 

IT IS going on around you - SPEAK UP

 and help keep our children from dying a senseless death.

Thank you to the Kris Marceno Foundation for their award winning PSA -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwc5kCAP8fU

For more information on how to talk to young kids and how to educate yourself please look at the following links -

1. Erik's Cause
http://stopthechokinggame.wordpress.com/

2. The Kris Marceno Foundation
http://www.krismarcenofoundation.com/

3. Ed4Ed4All
http://ed4ed4all.com/

4. DB Foundation
http://chokinggame.net/

5. GASP
http://www.gaspinfo.com/en/home.html

6. The JLPL Choking Game Awareness Foundation
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-JLPL-Choking-Game-Awareness-Foundation/132769133498534

7. Racing For Andrew
http://www.racing4andrew.com/

8. Lucastrong.com

12 Terrifying Teen 'Games' Your Kid Could Be Playing

 Credit to Jeanne Sager- Cafemom- The Stir
Taken from great article posted:

30 Seconds Game: You may know it as a knowledge game akin to charades. But among kids, it's generally accepted that playing 30 Seconds means kids fight as hard as they can for half a minute, and the onlookers declare a "winner." By some definitions, the fighting requires punching someone directly in the face, repeatedly.

Skittling: Forget about the yummy candy. Think about what is in your medicine cabinet, because this "game" involves teens raiding Mom and Dad's pills, throwing them all into one pot, and then grabbing a random handful of colorful little capsules, downing them in one incredibly dangerous swallow.

ABC Game: It sounds educational, doesn't it? But this twisted form of Scattegories has almost killed kids who have the letters of the alphabet scratched into their hand over and over by a "friend" as they're forced to name off items in a particular category that begin with each letter of the alphabet (hence ABC). The scratcher continues until the competitor makes it all the way through the alphabet, cutting deeper and deeper into the skin, often leaving behind infected wounds.

Hide and Seek: Oooh, we used to play this when we were little, right? Not exactly. The teen version involves, what else, cars. The hiders turn off their headlights, and the seeker has to find them on the dark road. Of course, no one else can see the darkened cars, and inexperienced teen drivers without headlights can't see where they're going.

Ghosting: There's no seeker in this game, just a bunch of kids who turn off the headlights and drive as fast as they can. I don't really have to describe the risks, do I?

European Vacation: Yet another reason to make you fear the trip to the DMV, this "trip" involves one teen driver motoring in the right lane while their pal moves over to the left lane to drive beside them.

Sack Tapping: Remember when you used to punch your friends in the arm to make it go dead? That was nothing compared to the pain suffered when a boy is hit in the, ahem, balls, and subsequently loses his testicle.

Trunking: Forcing a pal to ride in the trunk of a car may sound reasonable if you've watched too many mob movies, but it's been known to actually kill kids.

Surfing: Oh, if this only involved water. Riding atop a moving car is something done for generations, and yet kids are still dumb enough to do it, often with disastrous results.

Robotripping: Drinking cough syrup like it's a bottle of water, this is supposed to help kids hallucinate. Unfortunately, it can also kill them.

Planking: It's not just for kids, and yet it's still dangerous to lie face down in a random spot for laughs. If you're doing it in the middle of the road, you risk getting run over. Doing it on a balcony? Well, you could fall several stories like the Australian man killed last year.

Choking Game: Just because it's the game that gets the most press doesn't mean kids aren't still trying to achieve a high by cutting off the oxygen to the brain. This can knock kids unconscious or, much worse, cause brain damage or even death. Exact affects are hard to track, because choking game deaths are simply labeled as suicides. The CDC estimates 800 to 1,000 kids between the ages of 10 to 19 die of strangulation every year, and sadly that includes some kids who just thought they were playing a game. It's also called the fainting game, pass-out, good kids high, and choking off, among other names.

Of course we here at Ed4Ed4all are very familiar with many of these, the choking game being one of the most deadly right now, all of these "games" are so very dangerous.

Is It Really Worth The Risk?

What does playing around with risky substances do for your skin? your hair? your teeth? do I need to go on? Just watch the video of Meth users and ask yourself if it is really worth the risk or the high?

 I don't know about you, I want to keep my teeth: meth eats your teeth up
Meth users feel like they have "bugs" crawling all over them, hence the word "crank bugs" so they pick holes in their skin. That is where you see the scabs all over the face and body.
Meth users don't sleep, for days, weeks at a time. They don't eat, that is why all these users look so bad now. Not to mention what they have done to the internal organs of the body.

Keep your teeth, Leave it alone!!! 

So what the heck is meth: Educate yourself ...


Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Although most of the methamphetamine used in this country comes from foreign or domestic super-labs, the drug is also easily made in small clandestine laboratories, with relatively inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients. These factors combine to make methamphetamine a drug with high potential for widespread abuse.
Methamphetamine is commonly known as "speed," "meth," and "chalk." In its smoked form, it is often referred to as "ice," "crystal," "crank," and "glass." It is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol. The drug was developed early last century from its parent drug, amphetamine, and was used originally in nasal decongestants and bronchial inhalers. Like amphetamine, methamphetamine causes increased activity and talkativeness, decreased appetite, and a general sense of well-being. However, methamphetamine differs from amphetamine in that at comparable doses, much higher levels of methamphetamine get into the brain, making it a more potent stimulant drug. It also has longer lasting and more harmful effects on the central nervous system.
Methamphetamine comes in many forms and can be smoked, snorted, injected, or orally ingested. The preferred method of methamphetamine abuse varies by geographical region and has changed over time. Smoking methamphetamine, which leads to very fast uptake of the drug in the brain, has become more common in recent years, amplifying methamphetamine's addiction potential and adverse health consequences.
The drug also alters mood in different ways, depending on how it is taken. Immediately after smoking the drug or injecting it intravenously, the user experiences an intense rush or "flash" that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Snorting or oral ingestion produces euphoria - a high but not an intense rush. Snorting produces effects within 3 to 5 minutes, and oral ingestion produces effects within 15 to 20 minutes.
As with similar stimulants, methamphetamine most often is used in a "binge and crash" pattern. Because the pleasurable effects of methamphetamine disappear even before the drug concentration in the blood falls significantly - users try to maintain the high by taking more of the drug. In some cases, abusers indulge in a form of binging known as a "run," foregoing food and sleep while continuing abuse for up to several days.

 Methamphetamine vs. Cocaine

What are the long-term
effects of methamphetamine abuse?

---

Long-term methamphetamine abuse has many negative consequences, including addiction. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. In addition to being addicted to methamphetamine, chronic abusers exhibit symptoms that can include anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. They also can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions (for example, the sensation of insects creeping under the skin). Psychotic symptoms can sometimes last for months or years after methamphetamine abuse has ceased, and stress has been shown to precipitate spontaneous recurrence of methamphetamine psychosis in formerly psychotic methamphetamine abusers.
With chronic abuse, tolerance to methamphetamine's pleasurable effects can develop. In an effort to intensify the desired effects, abusers may take higher doses of the drug, take it more frequently, or change their method of drug intake. Withdrawal from methamphetamine occurs when a chronic abuser stops taking the drug; symptoms of withdrawal include depression, anxiety, fatigue, and an intense craving for the drug.

Chronic methamphetamine abuse also significantly changes the brain. Specifically, brain imaging studies have demonstrated alterations in the activity of the dopamine system that are associated with reduced motor speed and impaired verbal learning. Recent studies in chronic methamphetamine abusers have also revealed severe structural and functional changes in areas of the brain associated with emotion and memory, which may account for many of the emotional and cognitive problems observed in chronic methamphetamine abusers.
Fortunately, some of the effects of chronic methamphetamine abuse appear to be, at least partially, reversible. A recent neuroimaging study showed recovery in some brain regions following prolonged abstinence (2 years, but not 6 months). This was associated with improved performance on motor and verbal memory tests. However, function in other brain regions did not display recovery even after 2 years of abstinence, indicating that some methamphetamine-induced changes are very long-lasting. Moreover, the increased risk of stroke from the abuse of methamphetamine can lead to irreversible damage to the brain.

 Short-term effects may include:

• Increased attention and decreased fatigue
• Increased activity and wakefulness
• Decreased appetite
• Euphoria and rush
• Increased respiration
• Rapid/irregular heartbeat
• Hyperthermia

Long-term effects may include:

 

• Addiction
• Psychosis, including:
  • paranoia
  • hallucinations
  • repetitive motor activity
• Changes in brain structure and function
• Memory Loss
• Aggressive or violent behavior
• Mood disturbances
• Severe dental problems
• Weight loss                           

Great information from NIDA:  http://drugabuse.gov/NIDAHome.html
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.